Thriving under pressure

Atkins hurls Colonials into final

BY JOE HOFMANN
Daily Record

PARSIPPANY – Jeff Atkins has been a question mark for most of the 1999 baseball season. But Morristown’s senior righty is closing the year with a big, fat, exclamation point.

Atkins pitched a complete-game three-hitter and red-hot Evan Davis delivered yet another clutch RBI hit to lead the Colonials to a thrill-packed, 1-0, eight-inning victory over Parsippany in the Section 2, Group III finals in a battle of the Daily Record’s top two ranked teams.

The Colonials (22-6), the reigning Morris County Tournament champions, will face Cranford for the sectional crown at 4 p.m. Friday at Ridge High.

Atkins (4-3) battled early-game jitters but managed to strike out 10 in what was his best outing of the year. He went the route in beating Millburn in the sectional quarterfinals last week, 6-1.

In the early stages of the season, Atkins wasn’t nearly as effective. He was disciplined during the scrimmages and didn’t get much work in. Then he had some rotator cuff problems, which further set him back. The frustration didn’t end there: Morristown’s bullpen failed to protect several games where Atkins has left with a lead.

“His spring training was in the middle of April,” Morristown coach Harry Shatel said. “But his last two times out, he’s been very effective.”

He sure was yesterday—and that was without his best fastball due to a lack of rest after beating Millburn.

“My rotator cuff has been swollen all year, so I can’t throw that hard,” Atkins said. “I didn’t have my fastball today, so I relied more on my curveball.”

That was enough against a Parsippany team that won the IHC-Hills and was arguably the most consistent one in the area from wire-to-wire. But the Redskins (20-4) couldn’t get the big run across against Atkins.

Davis, meanwhile, came through yet again. The senior delivered his fourth critical hit of the last 11 days in the eighth, when he singled home Rob Ogilvie, who led off with a walk off loser Chris Fisher (5-1).

“He walked me twice and I waited for my chance,” said Davis, who’s also come up with critical hits in recent games against Delbarton, Seton Hall Prep and Hanover Park. “He kept going outside but then he threw me a fastball over the plate. He left it there and I hit it.”

The way Atkins was throwing, that was enough. The slender, 6-foot, four-inch hurler was particularly effective with runners on base. He walked three (one intentional) and hit two batters but managed to escape every time.

His most pressure-filled crisis came in the eighth, when he…